PepsiCo Announces Initiatives With the Earth Institute and H2O Africa to Drive Sustainable...

PepsiCo Announces Initiatives With the Earth Institute and H2O Africa to Drive
Sustainable Water Practices
Efforts To Improve Rural Water in Africa, China, India and Brazil

PURCHASE, N.Y., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PepsiCo announced today
a major new grant made by the PepsiCo Foundation to the Earth Institute at
Columbia University, one of the world's premier institutions dedicated to
global sustainable development. In addition, the company announced a
partnership with H2O Africa, a foundation focused on clean water initiatives
in Africa. Both initiatives are targeted to drive sustainable water practices
as part of PepsiCo's ongoing commitment to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs).
The initiative led by the Earth Institute and supported by the PepsiCo
Foundation involves identifying a series of high-impact, community-based
activities and practical solutions across water, agriculture and climate. The
effort is focused on improving water access, increasing water productivity and
recommending innovative methods to deliver "more crop per drop," among other
goals. The Earth Institute, directed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, will receive
$6 million during a three-year period directed at projects in India, Brazil,
China and Africa based on annual progress in these markets.
The PepsiCo partnership with H2O Africa, the charitable organization
founded by Matt Damon, involves on-the-ground clean water projects in Niger,
Mali, Senegal and other countries in Africa. H2O Africa will receive $2.5
million over the next 12 months.
"For PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation, these commitments begin with a
desire to address the worldwide water crisis. Water sits at the nexus of so
many challenges -- global health through disease transmission, increasing
hunger through poor agricultural practices, and even education as children in
water-scarce economies are often charged with walking miles to collect water
from a distant well instead of attending school. Without clean water, none of
the other fundamentals leading to a healthy and prosperous life are possible,"
said Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chairman and chief executive officer and PepsiCo
Foundation chairman.
"As part of our long-standing commitment to address this crisis, we've
entered into a strategic partnership with Jeffrey Sachs' Earth Institute and
Matt Damon's H2O Africa Foundation to find and implement truly sustainable
solutions in India, Brazil, China -- the fastest growing developing
markets -- and in communities in Africa, where the need is greatest," said
Nooyi. "As leading players in their respective fields, Jeffrey and Matt are
uniquely positioned to leverage their influence to make these initiatives
bigger, potentially transformational. This is the essence of innovative
collaboration, where different parts of society can mesh to take an idea to
scale."
Research reports that more than one billion people do not have access to
safe drinking water and every year approximately two million children die
unnecessarily from water-related diseases in the developing world. As part of
the Millennium Development Goals, which were established in 2000 and endorsed
by 192 nations, the world has pledged to reduce by half the proportion of
people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
"Water is at the core of economic development and human well being," said
Sachs. "With water, there can be productive agriculture, good nutrition,
sanitation, and health. Without water, there is only poverty and disease. Yet
water is under unprecedented stress, from inadequate farm practices, climate
change, population pressures, and pollution. New technologies, new business
strategies, and new public policies can overcome the growing water crisis.
Our new project and partnership will help to develop and demonstrate the best
options for future years in the Americas, Africa, and Asia."
The H2O Africa Foundation is focused specifically on clean water
initiatives in Africa, with a strategy of promoting a "best-of-class, open
model approach" to implementation in the field.
"On my trips to Africa I saw firsthand the life-changing impact that
access to safe water can have, especially for children," said Matt Damon.
"Along with other factors like sanitation, medical care and education, safe
water enables entire communities to pull themselves out of the cycle of
poverty. At H20 Africa, we are working with established NGOs already 'on the
ground' to bring assistance to communities in need."
PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation's support of these two step-changing
initiatives is part of its ongoing support of the Millennium Development
Goals. In July, PepsiCo was among several businesses to support a Declaration
announced by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the United Nations calling for
the achievement of the Goals by 2015.
"The world's governments have identified access to clean water as one of
the key building blocks to ending global poverty. Without it, none of the
Millennium Development Goals will be met," added Nooyi. "We believe that the
world water crisis is one of the most pressing challenges of our age. As a
global food and beverage company, our success depends on being responsible
stewards of this limited resource."
PepsiCo Foundation: PepsiCo Foundation is the charitable anchor of the
company's broader Performance with Purpose strategy for sustainable
development and corporate citizenship. Given rapidly escalating changes in
the environment, such as water scarcity and insecurity, and climate changes,
the Foundation seeks to help people find ways to better manage resources
within their communities. The Foundation strives to positively impact local
economic vitality by encouraging community insights and actions that better
manage water and environmental resources at the community level, specifically
those that increase water security through active harvesting and watershed
resource management. In several of the most drought stricken regions in the
world, the Foundation has pledged to bring one million people safe drinking
water by 2010. PepsiCo Foundation, along with PepsiCo's operating divisions,
give grants to more than 1,000 community organizations.
PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) is one of the world's largest food and beverage
companies, with 2006 annual revenues of more than $35 billion. The company
employs approximately 168,000 people worldwide, and its products are sold in
approximately 200 countries. Its principal businesses include: Frito-Lay
snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and
Quaker foods. The PepsiCo portfolio includes 17 brands that generate $1
billion or more each in annual retail sales. PepsiCo's commitment to
sustainable growth, defined as "Performance with Purpose," is focused on
generating healthy financial returns while giving back to communities the
company serves. This includes meeting consumer needs for a spectrum of
convenient foods and beverages, reducing the company's impact on the
environment through water, energy and packaging initiatives, and supporting
its employees through a diverse and inclusive culture that recruits and
retains world-class talent. PepsiCo is listed on the Dow Jones North America
Sustainability Index and Dow Jones World Sustainability Index. For more
information, please visit www.pepsico.com.
H2O Africa Foundation: The H2O Africa Foundation has a mission to create
widespread public awareness of the water crisis in Africa and gather support
and funding for integrated sustainable clean water programs in critical areas.
Oversight of the H20 Africa programs and initiatives will be through
partnerships with major non-governmental organizations as well as progress-
based grant agreements. Donors can be part of groups that are adopting
specific communities to ensure that they have safe water there. Every dollar
contributed by donors goes to the work in the field. Funds raised go to
partner NGO's that include: Millennium Promise, ONE X ONE, A Glimmer of Hope,
Ryan's Well Foundation, UNDP, and Living Water International.
The Earth Institute at Columbia University is an interdisciplinary
research institute that brings together talent from throughout the university
to address complex issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, with
particular focus on sustainable development and the needs of the worlds' poor.
Under the direction of Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the Earth Institute supports
pioneering projects in the biological, engineering, social, and health
sciences, while actively encouraging interdisciplinary projects, often
combining natural and social sciences, in pursuit of solutions to real world
problems.
SOURCE PepsiCo

Lynn Markley, Vice President, Public Relations & Community Affairs, PepsiCo,
+1-914-253-3059, or Oliver Phillips of Brunswick Group LLP, +1-917-861-0331